Are you ready at all times? Do you take time off from being ready? Are you looking forward to the day? Will you be ready if the day is today? Do you consciously think about being ready or simply stumble along?
Jesus tells us to be ready at all times. He states that we don’t know when we will meet Him face-to-face. No, I don’t believe He will come back riding on the clouds today. I do believe His warning for us is real.
Having recently finished leading a Bible study on the book of Revelation, I do not believe we are in the end times. The chaos we see in our world today is a drop in the bucket compared to what Revelation says will come prior to Jesus returning riding on a cloud.
I do believe Jesus truly meant we could meet Him on a moment’s notice. I believe what He was referring to is that we could find our time on this earth is up at any moment. We may say that, but I don’t believe we really believe it. Yet there are many reasons why it may come true.
We don’t talk about death much in our culture. Other cultures do, but we avoid it. Why? It is as natural as catching a cold. Each one of us will face it. Each one of us will go through it. When we do, we will face Jesus face-to-face or be held for judgment. If we are followers of His and ready to see Him, we will be with Him in heaven. If we are not His followers, we’ll be sent to Hades to await judgment. Hades is not Hell. It is a place of spiritual holding.
We are to be ready at all times. Jesus tells us we don’t know when the heart God gave us will stop. No, that is not a fatalist point of view, rather it is a realist point of view. Jesus will be there waiting for us. Do we want Him to welcome us with open arms or turn His back on us?
Folks, there are only two options when we leave this world. You don’t get a second chance. There is no reincarnation to work your way into His favor. We cannot believe the false teachings we hear. We must read our Bible and be able to discern sound teaching. We must be ready at all times.
I pray we take time to evaluate our current standing. I pray each one of us decides to be a follower of Jesus Christ. I pray we all are ready at all times. Be ready when your time comes. Be the servant waiting for the master to return. Look forward to the day you will go to heaven. Jesus has promised it and He keeps His promises.
Luke 12:35-38 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak.”
Marty Pressey 